‘I was a binman for 23 years – then my son died and my pay was cut by £500 a month’

Adrian Hyde, 46, fears he could lose his home after being told his pay was being cut by £6,000Striking Birmingham binman Adrian Hyde.

A striking Birmingham binman has spoken of his nightmare five weeks in which he lost his son and was told his pay was being slashed – sparking fears for his family’s home.

Adrian Hyde, 46, was still deep in mourning after losing his 27-year-old son to sepsis when he was told he was in line to lose £6,000 from his salary as part of the city council’s controversial bins service changes.

“I had just lost my son and my mind was not on my job or money,” he said. “It was on looking after my wife and two daughters.”

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“I am now £500 a month worse off – and that is really going to hit me. It could put me and my family out on the street. How can you just wake up one morning and lose £500 a month?”, reports the Mirror.

His world caved in last autumn when he received the letter soon after the death of his son. Adrian has worked for the council for 23 years, first for nine years as a street cleaner and then for the past 14 as a binman.

The six-month strike dispute remains unresolved. Now the council has said it is moving towards making redundancies as it had nowhere else to go in negotiations with the Unite union, which is representing striking workers.

Adrian said he was told to accept voluntary redundancy, transfer to street sweeping duties or accepting a demotion in his existing role.

“I broke down in tears with my gaffer saying I couldn’t make a decision,” he said. “I was being forced to make a decision after losing my child. I couldn’t even think straight – my mind was not in any fit state. They said I had until Monday to make a decision about work.

“It’s been a really hard ten months. You have to play it day-by-day, some days are worse than others. No parent should have to bury their child – and my daughters were very close with their brother.

“I took two weeks compassionate leave, followed by three weeks off sick. I actually could have taken six months off – but I wanted to do the right thing.”

Striking bin workers have protested outside the council house in Birmingham city centre.

Adrian has taken a job at a pub but said he was still short of cash. He said: “The year before I had £1,500 taken off me from my night allowance, which we got for the early starts, so in theory I’ve lost £7,500 in the last two years, so £600 a month. Who can afford to replace that?”.

Coun John Cotton, the city council’s leader, said the authority had “reached the absolute limit” of what it could offer the refuse collectors.

He said: “We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service. This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it.

“Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery. Successive administrations have failed to close off the council’s equal pay liabilities, costing the people of Birmingham hundreds of millions of pounds and that must end now.”

A spokesperson added: “All Birmingham City Council employees who may be facing personal difficulties, including bereavement, are encouraged to seek the support that is available to them through our HR team. We are committed to offering support wherever we can and we encourage staff to reach out if they are struggling emotionally.”

Piles of rubbish mushroomed at the height of the bin strike.(Image: BPM Media)

Adrian has also taken part in a video for Unite. “We are grateful to Adrian for bravely sharing his story with us,” general secretary Sharon Graham said. “It lays bare the reality of the proposed cuts – put simply, members like Adrian and their families cannot afford these huge losses to their monthly incomes.

“Our powerful video is a stark reminder that any of us could fall under the breadline if our employer decided to cut our wages without any negotiations.

“No worker should have to go through what Adrian and his colleagues are currently experiencing. We hope this film will make Birmingham Council sit up and listen to Unite. Putting families on the street would be a direct result of their hugely unfair and wrong cuts.”

The striking workers have an industrial action mandate until December.

Adrian said: The last thing we wanted to do was go on strike. But we have to defend our rights. We’re not asking for more money, we’re asking to be kept on the same.

“And we are not just defending our jobs now, we’re defending everyone’s now at Birmingham City Council. We think they’ll downgrade every single job at the council.

“Some teachers have apparently received letters suggesting they may be downgraded too. Every single council across England is watching what Birmingham is doing – if one council does it, the rest will follow suit. So, we’re fighting for everyone’s job.”

(Image: Getty Images)(Image: BPM Media)(Image: Unite the Union)